Runway looms, but activists want environmental statement

Even though the newest runway at O'Hare International Airport set to open in a few weeks, Park Ridge's O'Hare Airport Commission is pushing for an environmental impact statement by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Meeting last week, commission chairman Jim Argionis said people can be heard, despite the seemingly unstoppable airport expansion, if they organize and stay united.

"There's an attitude that, 'I'm not sure anything can be done,'" Argionis said. I liken, it to the tobacco industry, especially with health issues. People thought they'd never be able to fight big tobacco, but now you can't smoke in any public building."

The new arrival runway — Runway 10 Center/28 Center — is scheduled to open on Oct. 17 for the latest and largest jumbo jets, including the Airbus A-380 and Boeing 747-8, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. The takeoff and landing plan means air traffic will increase "two-fold during daytime hours and an astronomical 500 percent during the evening and nighttime hours," according to the letter from Fair Allocation in Runways — a coalition of groups from the Edgebrook, Forest Glen, Hollywood-North Park, Sauganash and Sauganash Woods neighborhoods.

Responding to critics who say planes come with the territory for those who live near O'Hare, Argionis said while that sounds true on the surface, there have been changes over the last few years that have made life worse for some residents.

"For 40 years, there were no changes at O'Hare, so nearby communities like Franklin Park dealt with runways by locating their industrial buildings in line with them. In 2008, O'Hare opened a new runway and now another one is set to open, with traffic going directly over residential areas that never had it before," Argionis said.

After hiring a law firm to help craft a letter to the FAA, urging officials to complete an environmental impact statement, the Park Ridge City Council will hear from another attorney — Barb Lichman of California — on Nov. 4. After that presentation, commission members will decide their next step.

"We've heard from one law firm, we're going to hear from Lichman. Our next step is to decide what actions we want city council to act upon," Argionis said.

Park Ridge has sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Michael Quigley (D-5th Dist.), seeking his support for an updated Environmental Impact Statement regarding the O'Hare Modernization Program. The last statement was completed in 2005, the same year the O'Hare Modernization Program was approved by the FAA, according to Argionis. He said the new runways, along with many trees lost to the emerald ash borer, may have caused changes.

The modernization program calls for six parallel east-west runways and two "cross-wind" runways. Runway 10 Center/28 Center is the second of three new east-west runways — the first, 9 Left/27 Right, opened in 2008 along the airport's northern perimeter paralleling Touhy Avenue. The third, 10 Right/28 Left, is slated to open in 2015 on O'Hare's southern perimeter. (Runway designation numbers generally indicate compass orientation while letters are used when there are parallel runways, to avoid confusion.)

The commission, which has four members and five vacancies, has worked with other communities and community groups like FAIR, who had member Lisa Ziems in attendance. Also at the meeting was Harwood Heights trustee Lester Szlendak.

"I think the more people you get on board with this the better," Argionis said.

Szlendak said it is important for the various towns and groups to stay united and said that grassroots efforts can bring changes.

"What they're [FAA] is doing is playing one community against each other. You guys in Park Ridge and northwest Chicago are going to be nailed in the next 30 days by the new runway," Szlendak said. "Grassroots efforts targeting politicians can work."

Argionis sees keeping the heat on politicians to urge the FAA to conduct the Environmental Impact Statement as one such effort. When asked if the commission could hire an outside firm to study the issue in the event the FAA refuses, Argionis said any outside firm's findings wouldn't be binding.

"Getting the FAA to do it is essential because there will be mitigation measures for any findings that are not where they are supposed to be," he said.

Zeims said her group will be updates on the doors of area residents soon, which will ask they contact Quigley and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

"We aren't looking to shut down O'Hare. We just want a fair allocation of runways," Zeims said.

One way that could be accomplished is to keep the runways open that are set to be decommissioned once the new runway opens, Argionis said.

"That may help to spread around the flights," Argionis said. "There is a difference between being under a runway and being less than a mile away. The noise is different and we don't know the environmental impact."

Another item the commission may ask for is that a air quality monitor that was installed for six months at Maine South High School in July be allowed to stay permanently. In addition, the commission plans to ask Park Ridge City Manager Shawn Hamilton to send a letter to the FAA and Chicago Department of Aviation requesting data from the monitor.

Park Ridge 6th Ward Alderman Marc Mazzuca told the commission that they may get better results with a Freedom of Information Act request and offered to write one..Argionis said a letter would be tried first.

Argionis also said the commission would reach out to environmental groups and possibly universities for help studying any environmental data.